Ice crushing and feeding device



I Fb; 25, 1947. I w, RA 2,416,432

I 7 ICE CBUSHING'AND FEEDING DEVICE V Filed Jung 9 1945 v INVENTOR.

Fmnk M Brady BY v at: Al-

Arm/2N Patented Feb. 25,1947

Frank W. Brady, San Francisco, Calif. Application June 9, 1945, Serial No. 598,539

This invention relates to improvements in ice crushing and feeding devices;

The use of .finely divided ice, sometimes termed snow-ice," to refrigerate perishable commodities placed in trucks, refrigerator railroad cars and the like, is wide spread. Numerous perishable commodities are covered with a layer of finely divided ice at the time they are loaded for shipment and, while in transit, this layer of finely divided ice is frequently refreshed by the addition of ice to replace that which has melted. Because a, body of finely divided ice solidifies if stored for any length of time, and because of the.

necessity of moving the ice supply to the vehicle in which the ice is to be placed, I have previously developed a device in which ice was crushed in an ice crusher and, immediately thereafter, conveyed, either in a flowing airstream produced by an auxiliary blower or .by application offorce from a separate device, to its point of use through a hose or other conduit.

The present invention relates to an improvement upon this device in that the ice crusher drum and the wheel utilized to impart the force are provided upon the same shaft, thus simplifying the constructionmaterially for only two bearings and one shaft are required in place of two shafts, four bearings and a separate feeder means for transporting the ice from the crusher into the wheel or blower.

As an additional advantage, the construction of the device of the present invention enables the ice to be fed into the device at a materially lower height above the floor level, thus simplifying and reducing the amount of labor required to introducethe heavy ice chunks or blocks into the ice crusher.

To enable the crusher drum and wheel to be mounted on the same shaft, I have found it necessary that the diameter of the drum and the diameter of the wheel be properly related and that a certain minimum critical ratio between these must be observed.

It is in general the broad object of the present invention to provide an improved ice crushing and blowing device. v

A further object of the present invention is to 5 Claims. (01. 24140) In accordanc'ewith this invention, I provide a I suitable base 6 having wheels 1 thereon, the front wheel being movably mounted as at 8, and adapted to be drawn over the floor by a handle l5. Supportedfrom the truck 6 by a, plurality of vertical angle irons 9-, is a housing, generally indicated at"l I, and provided by several metal plates suitably welded or otherwise joined together.

I Bearings i2 and I4 are'provided upon opposite provide a device in which the ice crushingdrum sides of the housing and a shaft I6 is mounted in these bearings and carries anice crushing drum generally indicated by numeral l1, and a centrifugal runner or wheel generally indicated bynumeral l8.

The housing I I is mounted at such an angle to the horizontal that the axis of shaft l6 is'inclined at 45 tothe vertical. By positioning the shaft at an angle of 45,the rate of reduction of ice'is increased as compared to a horizontal shaft crusher. This angle canbe varied 15 either way but 45 is preferred since it ensures maximum conversion and enables the inlet to be positioned at a, reduced elevation above the floor. The housing is provided with a suitable ice inlet generally indicatedby numeral 2i and including a horizontal portion 22. An electric motor 20 is mounted upon housing portion 23 and carries on its shaftynot shown, a V-belt pulley 28 about which are trained a plurality of V-belts 21, the latter passing about a V-belt pulley 28 'on shaft IE to drive the latter at the correct speed. A plurality of teeth 29 are mounted upon the drum andin the form of device shown the drum and wheel are adapted to be'rotated counterclockwise in Figure 2, the inlet being on the lefthand side of the machine as it is shown there, so that the drum tears into and reduces ice to a desired form. Ice crushed by'the'dr'um falls into the force imparting unit 30 which includes a plurality of blades 3i on shaft I6. The blades 3| of the wheel l8 are relieved as at 32 to permit entrance of the ice. The wheel finally throws the ice off by centrifugal force into the tangentially positioned housing outlet 33, to which is Iconnected a hose or other suitable conduit not shown.

I have found that the ratio of the diameter of the'drum to that of the wheel should be at least 1 to 1.25, and that if this is observed then the wheel will impart to the crushed ice the neceshorsepower output the snow-ice is delivered at a suitable distance from the device, while the ma-- 1. An ice crusher and slinger comprising a housing having an inlet portion, a shaft, bearings in said housing supporting said shaft at an angle of about 45 to the horizontal, means for rotating said shaft, an elongated cylindrical drum supported on said shaft and rotatable with said shaft and fitting closely in said housing, said drum' having a plurality of teeth spaced about its periphery and spaced from said housing, said housing inlet opening onto the upper peripheral portion of said drum at about 90 thereto to direct a block of ice positioned in said inlet down and into gravital engagement with said drum and the teeth on said drum to hold said ice against said teeth whereby the ice is reduced in size as said drum is rotated, an impeller wheel on said shaft in said housing below said drum to receive ice fragments from saiddrum which pass between said drum and said housing, said wheel having a plurality ofradial blades thereon extending from said wheel toward said drum, and an outlet from said casing for ice fragments thrown off by said impeller wheel.

2. An ice crusher and slinger comprising a housing having an inlet portion, a shaft, bearings in said housing supporting said shaft at an angle of about 45 to the horizontal, means for rotating said shaft, an elongated cylindrical drum supportedon said shaft and rotatable with said shaft and fitting closely in said housing, said drum having a plurality of teeth spaced about its periphery and spaced from said housing, said housing inlet opening onto the upper peripheral portion of said drum at about 90 thereto to direct a block of ice positioned in said inlet down and into gravital engagement with said drum and the teeth on said drum to hold said ice against said teeth whereby the ice is reduced in size as said drum is rotated, an impeller wheel on said shaft in said housing below said drum to receive ice fragments from said drum which pass between said drum and said housing, said wheel being of adiameter of the order of 1.25 times the diameter of the cylindrical drum and having a plurality of radial blades thereon extending from said wheel toward said drum, and an outlet fromsaid casing for ice fragments thrown off by said impeller wheel..

3. An ice crusher and slinger comprising a housing having an inlet portion, a shaft, hearings in said housing supporting said shaft at an angle of about 45 to the horizontal, means for rotating said shaft, an elongated cylindrical drum supported on said shaft and rotatable with said shaft and fitting closely in said housing, said drum having a plurality of teeth spaced about its periphery and spaced from said housing, said housing inlet opening onto the upper peripheral portion of said-drum at about 90 thereto to direct a block of ice positioned in said inlet down and into gravital engagement with said drum and the teeth on said drum to hold said ice against said teeth whereby the ice is reduced in size as said drum is rotated, an impeller wheel on said shaft in said housing below said drum to receive ice fragments from said drum which pass between -4 said drum and said housing, said wheel being of a diameter of the order of, from about 1.25 to about,1.43 times the diameter of the cylindrical drum and having a plurality of radial blades thereon extending'from said wheel toward said drum, and an outlet from said casing for ice fragments thrown off by said impeller wheel.

4. An ice crusher and slinger comprising a housing having an inlet portion, a shaft, bearings in said housing supporting said shaft at an angle of about 45 to the horizontal, means for rotating said shaft, an elongated cylindrical drum supported on said shaft and rotatable with said shaft and fitting closely in said housing, said drum having a plurality of teeth spaced about its periphery and spaced from said housing, said housing inlet opening onto the upper peripheral portion of said drum at about 90 thereto to direct a block of ice positioned in said inlet down and into gravital engagement with said drum and the teeth on said drum to hold said ice against said teeth whereby the ice is reduced in size as said drum is rotated, an impeller wheel on said shaft in said housing below said drum to receive ice fragments from said drum which pass between said drum and said housing, said wheel being-of a diameter of the order of 1.43 times the diameter of the cylindrical drum and having a plurality of radial blades thereon extending from said wheel toward said drum, and an outlet from said casing for ice fragments thrown off by said impeller wheel.

5. An ice crusher and slinger comprising a housing having an inlet portion, a shaft, bearings in said housing supporting said shaft at an angle of about 45 to the horizontal, means for rotating said shaft, an elongated cylindrical drum supported on said shaft and rotatable with said shaft and fitting closely in said housing, said drum having a plurality of teeth spaced about its periphery and spaced from said housing, said housing inlet opening onto the upper peripheral portion of said drum at about thereto to direct a block of ice positioned in said inlet down and into gravital engagement with said drum and the teeth on said drum to hold said ice against said teeth whereby the ice is reduced in size as said drum is rotated, an impeller wheel on said shaft in said housing below said drum to receive ice fragments from said drum which pass between said drum and said housing, said wheel having a plurality of radial blades thereon extending from said wheel toward said drum and relieved adjacent said wheel to admit ice frag- FRANK w. BRADY.

' REFERENCES CITED 'The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

. UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,136,214 Keith Nov. 8, 1938 2,322,306 McLaren June 22, 1943 1,289,004 Rosenthal Dec. 24, 1918 2,097,219 MacVean Oct. 26, 1937 2,114,557 Davis Apr. 19, 1938 

